Spinning toy

ABSTRACT

The toy comprises a tube which has vanes attached to one end so as to cause it to rotate when it is projected through the air or allowed to fall freely. The tube is equipped at the end opposite from the vanes with a hook which permits detachable engagement with a kite string.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,806,072 Pinter 1 Apr. 23, 1974 SPINNING TOY 811,784 2/1906 Matteson 46/82 2,667,352 1/1954 Sepersky 46/81 X [75] Inventor- Pinter Cedarburg, 700,281 5/1902 Wyatt 244/155 R 73 Assignee: American Reflector Co. Inc, 1,816,814 8/1931 Ater 244/155 R Grafton, Wis. Primary Examiner-M1lton Buchler [22] filed: May 1972 Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer [21] Appl. No.: 253,241 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Ralph G. Hohenfedt; Fred Wiviott [52] US. Cl. 244/155 R, 46/82 51 1111.01. B64c 31/06 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 46/74 R, 80, 81, 82, 84, The y comprises awbe which has vanes attached to 4 53; 244 5 5 R one end so as to cause it to rotate when it is projected through the air or allowed to fall freely. The tube is [56] References Ci equipped at the'end opposite from the vanes with a UNITED STATES PATENTS hook which permits detachable engagement with a 833,504 10/1906 Brillhart 46/82 kite Stung- 4/l925 Heiss 46/74 R UX 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SPINNING TOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a toy which undergoes a spinning motion when it is allowed to fall freely or otherwise projected through the air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the invention comprises an elongated tube which has vanes at one end and is provided with a hook at the other end. The toy may be hooked on the string of a flying kite to enable the wind to propel it .up toward the kite. When the toy is near the kite, the kite string is snapped so as to effect release of the hook and the toytherefrom. The toy then inverts so that its hooked end is pointed downwardly and its vane carrying end is upwardly. Shortly after the free fall is initiated, relative velocity between the toy and the air is sufficient to impart a spinning action as the toy descends. An easy way to get the toy up the kite string an appreciable distance rapidly is to anchor the end of the string to an object on the ground and then slide a hand along the string so as to position a portion of it in parallelism with the ground. The toy is then hooked on the kite string and the hand is slid back along the string toward the anchoring point. The toy rises with the rising kite string and is then an appreciable distance above the ground at its point of engagement with the string. The wind which keeps the kite aloft then forces the toy toward the kite. When the toy gets near the kite the string is then snapped to unhook the toy which descends as described above.

The toy may also be tossed manually through the air at sufficient velocity to obtain the spinning action as it rises and descends.

Objects of this invention are to provide an easy to use, inexpensive, durableand entertaining action toy.

Another more specific object of this invention is to provide a toy which when projected through the air exhibits a spinning action and which may be so projected by unhooking'it from a kite string or by tossing it through the air manually. A corollary of this'object is to provide a toy which can be used with a kite during DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kite with the new toy releasably engaged to the string;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vane assembly end of the new spinning toy;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of the new toy;

I FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation view of a broken away portion of a tubular member used in the toy to which the skin imparting vane is attached; and

FIG. 5 is a front view of the vane carrying end of the portion of the toy shown in the preceding figure.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 a kite is marked with the reference numeral 10 and is shown as being aloft. The kite is restrained by a string 11. The new spinning toy l2 hooked on string 11 has three principal parts comprising an elongated tubular member 13 which has a vane assembly 14 at one end and a wire hook 15 at its opposite end. The hook 15 has a substantially semicircular end portion 16 which facilitates engagement of the toy with the string I 11 of the kite. As explained earlier, when the toy is impelled by the wind to near proximity with the kite 10, string 11 may be snapped (but not broken) so as to disengage the hooked end 16 from the string and allow the toy to invert and descend with the hooked end downward and the vaned end upwardly. The vanes rotate the entire assembly rapidly during descent. The impression outside diameter of about inch and a wall thickness of 1/16 inch or under. In one embodiment, the tube is about 8 inches long. In any case, the mass of the tube should be such that in combinationwith the mass of the attached vane structures 14 the center of gravity of the assembly will be somewhere near the upper end of the tube but below the vane structure.

At the lower end of the tube 13 as in FIG. 3, there is an aperture 17 for connecting book 15. This hook may be a stiff plastic filament or wire if 'desired. The hook 15 is provided with a loop portion 18. which extends through aperture 17 freely and bends back against the body of the hook. An important factor in making the tube ascend the kite string without unhooking is to have the loop 18 so engaged with the tubular member 13 that the hook can swivel with respect to the tubular member or vice versa. If the tube and hook are rigidly connected so as to preclude any swivelling there is a tendency for the toy to unhook as it swings during its ascent along kite string 11 under the influence of the wind. With the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, the hook tends to remain substantially vertical and free of jerking motions although the toy itself may pendulate on the hook during ascent...The hook stability so achieved minimizes the likelihood of the inadvertent disengagement of the hook from the kite string during ascent.

The details of the vane means 14 may be seen in FIGS. 2 4 and 5. In FIG. 2 one may see that the vane means may be made as a unit from a plain sheet of cardboard or plastic or other suitable, preferably nonmetallic, light weight sheet material. The outline of the vane structure may be stamped from a sheet of material and a central slit may be imparted which permits bending the divided vane portions in opposite angular direc-' tions so as to produce individual vanes such as 19 and 20. An extension 21 may be allowed to remain on the margin of the vane assembly to facilitate engagement with tubular member 13. As illustrated, margin extension 21 extends diametrically across an end of tube 13 and the extension fits edgewise into a slot 22 in the end of the tube. A small quantity of adheisve may be used to affix the vane structure to the tube. It is also feasible to merely adhere the vane to'the end of the tube without using the slot 22 and the vane may be joined to the tube by other means such as heat sealing, particularly if the tube and vanes are made of plastic.

Note in FIG. 2 that by attaching the vane means 14 to tube 13 in the manner just described there will be substantially semicircular openings 23 and 24 on opposite sides of the tube next to vane margin 21. This permits an air stream to flow axially through the tube 13 during descent and this feature has been found to impart greater vertical stability to the toy as it descends.

cal length as to enable use of more than one pair of radially displaced vanes such as 19 and 20.

Referring to FIG. 4, one may see that the vanes 19 and20 are preferably equiangularly diverging from an imaginary longitudinal plane such as that which ap-. pears edgewise and is represented by the dashed line 25. This'imaginary planeextends longitudinally of tube 13 and preferably is coincident with its axis. It is desirable that vanes 19 and 20 be geometrically symmetrical and balanced with respect to this plane within normal manufacturing tolerances.

In FIG. 5 one may see that vanes 19 and 20 are not diametrically opposite of each other but are displaced radially from an imaginary plane 26 running diametrally across the end of tube 13 perpendicular to plane 25. Stated in another way, if an imaginary longitudinal plane 26 is taken normal to the planeof the drawing in FIG. 5 and at right angles to the imaginary plane 25 in FIG. 4, vanes 19 and 20 are displaced in opposite radial directions-with respect to plate 26. Of course, some radially inward overlapping of theinner edges 27 and 28 of vanes 19 and 20, respectively, is permissible but it has been found undesirable to have the vane surfaces in line with each other on opposite sides of the tube. Of course, the parent sheet material out of which the vanes are formed may be slotted in such manner as to create a gap between the middle edges 27 and 28 of the vanes if desiredn In one embodiment, a total angle of about 90 between vanes 19 and 20 has been found to produce a pronounced spinning action and good stability but it should be understood that the angle may be more or less as long as angles of 0 or 180 are not too closely approached.

In this illustration of the invention, vanes 19 and 20 are flat or planar, but it will be understood that other configurations may be used as well. For instance, the vanes may be shaped as a volute or otherwise shaped so as to enhance rotary action. It has been found, however, that flat vanes produce satisfactory results insofar as spinning action and stability are concerned and their use is commensurate with simplicity and low manufacturing cost. I

Although the vane means 14 were described above as being made by slitting a plastic'or cardboard sheet in opposite directions and then bending the divided vane portions away from each other, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the vane means may be molded with the vanes 19 and 20 prediverged so as to eliminate the bending or forming step.

Although preferred embodiments and various uses of the invention have been described in considerable detail, such description is to be considered illustrative rather than limiting, for the invention may be variously embodied and is to be limited only by interpretation of the claims that follow.

I claim:

l. A toy comprising:

a. an elongated tubular member,

b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes .associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite angular directions from an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise from said tubular member,

c. said vane means having a substantially planar portion from which said vanes project in said opposite directions, 3 d. the said planar portion lying substantially in said imaginary plane transversely of said elongated member and being attached to the end of said elongated member.

2. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein:

a. said vanes are on opposite sides of a second imaginary longitudinal plane which is substantially perpendicular to said first imaginary plane.

3. A toy comprising: I

a. an elongated tubular-member,

b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite directions from an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise thereof,

c. said elongated member having an aperture at an end remote from the end which has said vane means, and f (I. hook means having a portion loosely but substantially undetachably engaged with said elongated member by passing through said aperture, said hook means having another portion which is open and adapted to hook detachably on a cord.

4. A toy comprising:

a. an elongated tubular member,

b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite directions from'an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise thereof, 1 Y

c. means extending across the end of the tube at the end which has the vanes, said last named means substantially bisecting the end of the tube so as to define therewith air flow openings endwise of the tube.

5. A toy comprising:

a. an elongated tubular member,

6 b. an element engaged with one end of said tubular opposite sidesof a diameter of said tubular memmember generally endwise thereof and said eleher and said vanes extend generally in radially opment having at least a pair of vanes diverging from posite directions along said diameter from the axis each other generally axially of said member, of said tubular member. c. said element having a substantially planar margin 5 7. The toy defined in claim 5 including:

portion engaged edgewise to effect said generally a. hook means attached at another end of said tubuendwise engagement with the one end of said tubular member which is remote from said element said lar member, and attachment being such as to afford free pivotal d. said vanes project from said margin portion. movement of said hook means relative to said tubu- 6. The toy defined in claim 5 wherein: 10 lar member. a. the vanes diverge substantially equiangularly on 

1. A toy comprising: a. an elongated tubular member, b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite angular directions from an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise from said tubular member, c. said vane means having a substantially planar portion from which said vanes project in said opposite Directions, d. the said planar portion lying substantially in said imaginary plane transversely of said elongated member and being attached to the end of said elongated member.
 2. The toy defined in claim 1 wherein: a. said vanes are on opposite sides of a second imaginary longitudinal plane which is substantially perpendicular to said first imaginary plane.
 3. A toy comprising: a. an elongated tubular member, b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite directions from an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise thereof, c. said elongated member having an aperture at an end remote from the end which has said vane means, and d. hook means having a portion loosely but substantially undetachably engaged with said elongated member by passing through said aperture, said hook means having another portion which is open and adapted to hook detachably on a cord.
 4. A toy comprising: a. an elongated tubular member, b. vane means including at least a pair of vanes associated with one end of said member, said vanes projecting generally in opposite directions from an imaginary longitudinal plane through said member and said vanes extending generally endwise thereof, c. means extending across the end of the tube at the end which has the vanes, said last named means substantially bisecting the end of the tube so as to define therewith air flow openings endwise of the tube.
 5. A toy comprising: a. an elongated tubular member, b. an element engaged with one end of said tubular member generally endwise thereof and said element having at least a pair of vanes diverging from each other generally axially of said member, c. said element having a substantially planar margin portion engaged edgewise to effect said generally endwise engagement with the one end of said tubular member, and d. said vanes project from said margin portion.
 6. The toy defined in claim 5 wherein: a. the vanes diverge substantially equiangularly on opposite sides of a diameter of said tubular member and said vanes extend generally in radially opposite directions along said diameter from the axis of said tubular member.
 7. The toy defined in claim 5 including: a. hook means attached at another end of said tubular member which is remote from said element said attachment being such as to afford free pivotal movement of said hook means relative to said tubular member. 